Can I attack or block with a creature, then sacrifice it?
Asked by conmanfr2005 12 years ago
I have Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord out. Can I attack or block with a creature, then pay 3 mana to sacrifice it? I was thinking there might be some situations where I can block with a creature to avoid taking damage, then pay the 3 mana to sacrifice it and vice versa for attacking.
pumpkinsword says... #2
After the declare blockers step and before damage is dealt, you can sacrifice the creature. The attacking creature would be blocked (unless it had trample) and then you could sacrifice the creature.
October 9, 2012 3:34 p.m.
cartwheelnurd says... #3
Well, you may sacrifice the creature before the combat damage step begins, but your creature will not deal damage during that combat. (Except for the life jarad makes them lose :) )
October 9, 2012 4:29 p.m.
MagnorCriol says... Accepted answer #4
Everyone above is correct. Just to clarify a bit:
- You can attack with a creature then sacrifice it, though it won't deal any combat damage then because it's no longer there to deal any damage. This could be right to do, for instance, when sacrificing a creature once it's been blocked if it's going to die without killing its blocker, so you can get value out of it.
- You can block a creature, then sacrifice your blocker after it's been declared as a blocker. This means neither your creature nor the attacking creature will deal any damage - yours because it's not there to deal it, and the attacker because there's nothing there to damage. It's still considered blocked, though, and can't assign any damage to you - unless it has trample, in which case it can assign all of it to you as if it had never been blocked.
October 9, 2012 9:07 p.m.
@pumpkinsword @rushtowait... As an extension to the question.. If I was attacking with both Carrion Feeder
and Gravecrawler
(with 2 un-tapped mana) and my opponent declares to block with a 2/2, could I sac gravecrawler twice before the damage step to pump up carrion feeder to a 3/3 and destroy the blocking creature?
October 26, 2013 5:58 a.m.
MagnorCriol says... #6
Gravecrawler allows you to cast him from your graveyard; he doesn't come back from there automatically. Normally you can't cast creatures during the combat step. If you had something that let you do so, however (Vedalken Orrery , Leyline of Anticipation , Yeva, Nature's Herald , etc) then that would be legal.
October 26, 2013 11:46 a.m.
patrickolson says... #7
As another variant of this, what if you cast an enchantment on a 2/2 creature that gives it -2/-2. Can you sacrifice the creature before the enchantment effect destroys the creature?
April 8, 2014 11:27 p.m.
goldencrisis says... #8
"Example: I'm attacking with a Hill Giant equipped with Loxodon Warhammer . You block with Nantuko Husk . I assign 2 damage to the Husk and 4 trample damage to you. With combat damage on the stack, you sacrifice the Husk to its own ability. Because of this, once damage resolves, I only gain 4 when I would have gained 6."
Is this still true about creatures with trample that the damage is still reduced, or where the rules changed since this post?
From Wizards of the Coast
August 22, 2014 11:58 p.m.
pumpkinsword says... #9
Damage does not go on the stack any more. If they sacrfice the Nantuko Husk they take the full 6 and you'd gain 6.
rushtowait says... #1
Yes you can do that. You can sacrifice a creature that has been assigned to block an attacking creature and then before combat damage is dealt, sacrifice it using Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord 's activated ability. Note that this will result in the attacking creature (whether if it was yours' or your opponent's) will deal no combat damage and the blocking creature will not receive combat damage.
October 9, 2012 3:31 p.m.